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Delta IV rocket set to launch from Fla. after sunset

Deb Huleatt of the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance is leading an effort to reduce the time needed to prep Atlas and Delta rockets for launch while maintaining safety. A Delta IV launch is scheduled May 23, 2013.
Craig Rubadoux and Tim Walters, Florida Today

Todd Halvorson, Florida Today
1:45 p.m. EDT May 23, 2013

Team works to reduce the time between launches while maintaining reliability.

Deb Huleatt, a launch span reduction leader with United Launch Alliance, is leading an effort to reduce the time needed to prep the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture's Atlas and Delta rockets for launch while maintaining safety and reliability.(Photo: Craig Rubadoux, Florida Today)

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United Launch Alliance's Delta IV is carrying an advanced U.S. military broadband communications satellite

"I think in many ways we're improving the safety and reducing the risk because we're really focusing on those 'no-kidding, we-have-to-get-this-right (tasks),' and we're eliminating distractions, and in many cases, duplications," said Huleatt, 50, a married mother of two now living in Merritt Island, Fla.

One month into a one-year tour here, the design engineer and integration manager from Denver now finds herself at the company's storied launch site.

In the 78 months since Boeing and Lockheed Martin formed United Launch Alliance, the joint venture partnership has chalked up 70 near-flawless launches and mission successes. Thursday's planned 8:27 p.m. ET launch will be the company's fifth of 12 flights planned this year.

Yet United Launch Alliance, in pursuit of continuous improvement, is tinkering with success.

Huleatt and her team are examining each and every aspect of Atlas and Delta launch preparations, looking for tests and inspections that could be eliminated safely, ways to lessen weather-related work stoppages in a place where lightning regularly threatens, and methods for doing critical launch preparations more effectively.

In theory, a nip here and a tuck there could yield significant efficiencies.

"We don't want to get rid of requirements just for the sake of getting rid of requirements," Huleatt said.

Every timesaving candidate "has to go through a rigorous analysis and decision-making process to make sure we're not eliminating something that we're going to regret later."

The company already is making progress.

When Atlas V rockets first started flying about a decade ago, a typical launch preparation took 60 to 90 days. But in January, the company set a new record — 27 days — for the span between the start of rocket stacking and launch.

The previous record had been 44 days.

The big difference: A countdown dress rehearsal was eliminated for a certain variant of the Atlas V rocket.

Traditionally, the test involved moving an Atlas V 400 series rocket to the launch pad, fueling the vehicle during a mock countdown and then returning the rocket to its assembly building for final launch preps. Any propellant-loading problems, particularly with the rocket's Centaur upper stage, would be uncovered during the test.

But the Centaur second stage of Atlas 400 series rockets — meaning those with 4-meter payload fairings to protect cargo during the ascent against the friction of the atmosphere — could be repaired at the launch pad. And the time saved would be significant.

The Centaur second stages of larger Atlas V 500 series rockets — those with 5-meter payload fairings — could not be repaired at the pad without special tooling. But that tooling is being developed and will be tested this summer. So countdown dress rehearsals with Atlas V 500 series rockets might be eliminated in the not-so-distant future. A host of other timesaving measures also are being evaluated.

A third-generation native of Colorado, Huleatt considers her new assignment an adventure, and she is thrilled about being significantly closer to the launch pad.

"I'm always excited about an upcoming launch, but this one is probably even more exciting," she said. "This will be the first time I've been close-by here for a Delta IV launch, and I just couldn't be more excited. Every launch I get butterflies, and I just know how I'll feel — very excited."